Daizenji Tamataregu Shrine Oniyo Fire Festival

Considered one of the three major fire festivals in Japan, the Oniyo Fire Festival at the Daizenji Tamataregu Shrine is an important shrine tradition reaching back 1,600 years.

The fire ceremony marks the culmination of the "Oni-kai" festival, which starts on New Year’s Eve. At 9 p.m. on the night of January 7, the "devil fire" which has been guarded at the temple is transferred to six enormous torches measuring up to one meter in diameter and 13 meters in length. These torches are carried around the shrine grounds by groups of men in loincloths from the six neighboring towns. The fire festival is held to exorcise evil spirits from the town, and spectators are said to be blessed with good luck if some of the embers or ash fall on them.

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